Starting a business in Latvia
Register the activity at the VID, or reach for the micro-enterprise tax - and know why the SIA at €2,800 stays the serious default.
Checked against the sources on 2026-08-30
Before anything else
A Latvian solo start is registration as a performer of economic activity (saimnieciskās darbības veicējs) at the State Revenue Service, free and online via EDS. Ordinary income tax applies with real or documented costs - or the mikrouzņēmumu nodoklis (micro-enterprise tax), a 25% flat levy on turnover to €40,000 that bundles income tax and social contributions into one payment.
The micro tax was once Latvia’s famous cheap regime; reforms narrowed it hard (no employees, no VAT registration compatibility). It still suits genuinely small solo work; anything bigger goes ordinary or straight to an SIA.
The legal shell
Self-employed or SIA?
Saimnieciskā darbība
Solo services.
Free at the VID; ordinary rates, or the 25% micro tax on turnover to €40,000.
Social contributions have minimum quarterly logic even at low profit; the micro tax forecloses VAT registration.
SIA
The standard company. Full capital is €2,800; the reduced-capital small SIA from €1 exists with profit-retention rules.
Registration at the Uzņēmumu reģistrs ~€150 with e-signature.
Corporate tax follows the Estonian model - 0% retained, 20%+ on distribution - but board-member salary rules still bite.
The sequence
Register at the VID via EDS
Cost: €0Takes: Days
Declare the activity and, if wanted, elect the micro-enterprise tax for the year. eID or e-signature is the credential.
Know the contribution floors
Above modest income, mandatory social contributions apply on at least the minimum wage basis quarterly; below it, a 10% pension-only levy still catches most profit. The floors move with the minimum wage - check yearly.
VAT at €50,000
PVN registration is compulsory past €50,000 of twelve-month turnover - unavailable inside the micro regime, which is the regime’s sharpest edge for growing businesses.
What it costs to start
| What | Amount |
|---|---|
| Self-employed registration | €0 |
| Micro-enterprise taxTo €40,000; bundles tax and contributions. | 25% of turnover |
| SIA registration | ~€150 + capital |
The words on the forms
- VID / EDS
- The revenue service and its e-declaration system.
- Saimnieciskā darbība
- Economic activity - the self-employed status.
- Mikrouzņēmumu nodoklis
- The 25% turnover tax to €40,000.
- SIA
- The limited company; distribution-taxed like Estonia’s.
- Uzņēmumu reģistrs
- The enterprise register.
- PVN
- VAT, compulsory at €50,000.
The traps
- Choosing micro tax and then needing VAT registration for an EU client.
- Missing the quarterly contribution floors in thin quarters.
- Copying Estonian-guide logic wholesale - the Latvian variant differs in the details that cost money.
Where to check this yourself
- VIDRegistration, micro tax, thresholds.
- Uzņēmumu reģistrsSIA formation.
This is a map, not legal or tax advice - and an honest one about how it was drawn: the Germany guide was written by a person who walked the route; most other countries were drafted with AI against the official sources and have not yet been walked by someone who did it. Laws change. Every guide carries the date it was last checked and the sources to check it yourself - and if you have been through one of these routes, your corrections are exactly what this handbook wants.